Conceptualizing care partners' burden, stress, and support for reintegrating Veterans: a mixed methods study
BackgroundPeople who support Veterans as they transition from their military service into civilian life may be at an increased risk of psychological distress. Existing studies focus primarily on paid family caregivers, but few studies include spouses and informal non-family “care partners.” We sough...
| Main Authors: | , , , , , , , |
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
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Frontiers Media S.A.
2024-02-01
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| Series: | Frontiers in Public Health |
| Subjects: | |
| Online Access: | https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fpubh.2023.1295627/full |
| _version_ | 1797302986788044800 |
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| author | Nicholas A. Rattray Nicholas A. Rattray Nicholas A. Rattray Mindy Flanagan Allison Mann Allison Mann Leah Danson Leah Danson Ai-Nghia Do Diana Natividad Katrina Spontak Katrina Spontak Gala True Gala True |
| author_facet | Nicholas A. Rattray Nicholas A. Rattray Nicholas A. Rattray Mindy Flanagan Allison Mann Allison Mann Leah Danson Leah Danson Ai-Nghia Do Diana Natividad Katrina Spontak Katrina Spontak Gala True Gala True |
| author_sort | Nicholas A. Rattray |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | BackgroundPeople who support Veterans as they transition from their military service into civilian life may be at an increased risk of psychological distress. Existing studies focus primarily on paid family caregivers, but few studies include spouses and informal non-family “care partners.” We sought to identify key challenges faced by care partners of Veterans with invisible injuries.MethodsSemi-structured interviews were conducted with 36 individuals involved in supporting a recently separated US military Veteran enrolled in a 2-year longitudinal study. CPs completed validated measures on perceived stress, caregiving burden, quality of their relationship, life satisfaction, and flourishing. Independent t-tests were used to compare cases in these groups on caregiving burden, quality of their relationship, life satisfaction, and flourishing. Care partners were categorized as reporting high and low levels of stress. Exemplar cases were used to demonstrate divergences in the experiences of CPs with different levels of stress over time.ResultsCare partners reported shifts in self-perception that occurred from supporting a Veteran, emphasizing how they helped Veterans navigate health systems and the processes of disclosing health and personal information in civilian contexts. Exemplar cases with high and low burdens demonstrated divergent experiences in self-perception, managing multi-faceted strain, and coping with stress over time. Case studies of specific care partners illustrate how multi-faceted strain shifted over time and is affected by additional burdens from childcare, financial responsibilities, or lack of education on mental health issues.ConclusionsFindings suggest the unique needs of individuals who support military Veterans with invisible injuries, highlighting variations and diachronic elements of caregiving. This sample is younger than the typical caregiver sample with implications for how best to support unpaid care partners caring for Veterans in the early to mid-period of their use of VA and civilian health services. |
| first_indexed | 2024-03-07T23:46:25Z |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj.art-a9ff55d6aff140539b0e71e9576f8e9c |
| institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
| issn | 2296-2565 |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-03-07T23:46:25Z |
| publishDate | 2024-02-01 |
| publisher | Frontiers Media S.A. |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Frontiers in Public Health |
| spelling | doaj.art-a9ff55d6aff140539b0e71e9576f8e9c2024-02-19T12:25:25ZengFrontiers Media S.A.Frontiers in Public Health2296-25652024-02-011110.3389/fpubh.2023.12956271295627Conceptualizing care partners' burden, stress, and support for reintegrating Veterans: a mixed methods studyNicholas A. Rattray0Nicholas A. Rattray1Nicholas A. Rattray2Mindy Flanagan3Allison Mann4Allison Mann5Leah Danson6Leah Danson7Ai-Nghia Do8Diana Natividad9Katrina Spontak10Katrina Spontak11Gala True12Gala True13VA Health Services Research and Development Center for Health Information and Communication, Roudebush Veteran Affairs Medical Center, Indianapolis, IN, United StatesRegenstrief Institute, Inc., Indianapolis, IN, United StatesDepartment of General Internal Medicine and Geriatrics, Indiana School of Medicine, Indianapolis, IN, United StatesVA Health Services Research and Development Center for Health Information and Communication, Roudebush Veteran Affairs Medical Center, Indianapolis, IN, United StatesVA Health Services Research and Development Center for Health Information and Communication, Roudebush Veteran Affairs Medical Center, Indianapolis, IN, United StatesDepartment of Psychological Services, University of Indianapolis, Indianapolis, IN, United StatesVA Health Services Research and Development Center for Health Information and Communication, Roudebush Veteran Affairs Medical Center, Indianapolis, IN, United StatesDepartment of Psychological Services, University of Indianapolis, Indianapolis, IN, United StatesVA Health Services Research and Development Center for Health Information and Communication, Roudebush Veteran Affairs Medical Center, Indianapolis, IN, United StatesVA Health Services Research and Development Center for Health Information and Communication, Roudebush Veteran Affairs Medical Center, Indianapolis, IN, United StatesVA Health Services Research and Development Center for Health Information and Communication, Roudebush Veteran Affairs Medical Center, Indianapolis, IN, United StatesDepartment of Psychological Services, University of Indianapolis, Indianapolis, IN, United StatesSouth Central Mental Illness Research, Education, and Clinical Center, Southeast Louisiana Veterans Health Care System, New Orleans, LA, United StatesSection of Community and Population Medicine, Louisiana State University School of Medicine, New Orleans, LA, United StatesBackgroundPeople who support Veterans as they transition from their military service into civilian life may be at an increased risk of psychological distress. Existing studies focus primarily on paid family caregivers, but few studies include spouses and informal non-family “care partners.” We sought to identify key challenges faced by care partners of Veterans with invisible injuries.MethodsSemi-structured interviews were conducted with 36 individuals involved in supporting a recently separated US military Veteran enrolled in a 2-year longitudinal study. CPs completed validated measures on perceived stress, caregiving burden, quality of their relationship, life satisfaction, and flourishing. Independent t-tests were used to compare cases in these groups on caregiving burden, quality of their relationship, life satisfaction, and flourishing. Care partners were categorized as reporting high and low levels of stress. Exemplar cases were used to demonstrate divergences in the experiences of CPs with different levels of stress over time.ResultsCare partners reported shifts in self-perception that occurred from supporting a Veteran, emphasizing how they helped Veterans navigate health systems and the processes of disclosing health and personal information in civilian contexts. Exemplar cases with high and low burdens demonstrated divergent experiences in self-perception, managing multi-faceted strain, and coping with stress over time. Case studies of specific care partners illustrate how multi-faceted strain shifted over time and is affected by additional burdens from childcare, financial responsibilities, or lack of education on mental health issues.ConclusionsFindings suggest the unique needs of individuals who support military Veterans with invisible injuries, highlighting variations and diachronic elements of caregiving. This sample is younger than the typical caregiver sample with implications for how best to support unpaid care partners caring for Veterans in the early to mid-period of their use of VA and civilian health services.https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fpubh.2023.1295627/fullmilitary Veteranscaregiver burdencaregivingmixed methodshealth servicesveteran reintegration |
| spellingShingle | Nicholas A. Rattray Nicholas A. Rattray Nicholas A. Rattray Mindy Flanagan Allison Mann Allison Mann Leah Danson Leah Danson Ai-Nghia Do Diana Natividad Katrina Spontak Katrina Spontak Gala True Gala True Conceptualizing care partners' burden, stress, and support for reintegrating Veterans: a mixed methods study Frontiers in Public Health military Veterans caregiver burden caregiving mixed methods health services veteran reintegration |
| title | Conceptualizing care partners' burden, stress, and support for reintegrating Veterans: a mixed methods study |
| title_full | Conceptualizing care partners' burden, stress, and support for reintegrating Veterans: a mixed methods study |
| title_fullStr | Conceptualizing care partners' burden, stress, and support for reintegrating Veterans: a mixed methods study |
| title_full_unstemmed | Conceptualizing care partners' burden, stress, and support for reintegrating Veterans: a mixed methods study |
| title_short | Conceptualizing care partners' burden, stress, and support for reintegrating Veterans: a mixed methods study |
| title_sort | conceptualizing care partners burden stress and support for reintegrating veterans a mixed methods study |
| topic | military Veterans caregiver burden caregiving mixed methods health services veteran reintegration |
| url | https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fpubh.2023.1295627/full |
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